An improved extraction method for acrylamide determination in fruit and vegetable chips through enzyme addition

Acrylamide, hydroxymethylfurfural and furfural in ready-to-eat foods consumed by child population: Presence, risk assessment and future perspectives

Food intake contributes to adequate growth and neurodevelopment of children. Ready-to-eat foods, frequently consumed by this population, are sources of acrylamide (AA), hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and furfural (FF). In this sense, a review of the AA, HMF, and FF presence in ready-to-eat foods was evaluated through a systematic search to infer the risk of exposure in the child population. About 75.8%, 24.2%, and 21% of the studies found AA, HMF, and FF in ready-to-eat foods, respectively. AA is predominant in processed and ultra-processed foods, while HMF and FF are commonly found in fruit-based foods. Only 17.7% of the studies assessed the children's risk of exposure, based on the contaminant concentration in ready-to-eat food and not after gastrointestinal digestion, a more realistic measure. Therefore, with the obtained information and found gaps, it is expected that new strategies will be proposed to assess the vulnerability of the child population to these processing contaminants.

Acrylamide in alternative snacks to potato: A review

The snack food market has been changing to keep up with the growing demand for healthier products and, as a result, alternative products to traditional potato chips have been emerging to provide health-related benefits. Extrusion, frying, and baking are the main techniques used worldwide in the processing of snacks and are among the main reasons for the formation of toxic compounds induced by heat, such as acrylamide. This contaminant is formed during thermal processing in foods heated at high temperatures and rich in carbohydrates. Processed potato-based products have been pointed out as the main contributors to acrylamide dietary exposure. Many studies have been conducted on potato chips since the discovery of this contaminant in foods and research on the formation of acrylamide in snacks from other vegetables has begun to be conducted more recently. Thus, this review aims to present a detailed discussion on the occurrence of acrylamide in alternative vegetable snacks that are consumed as being healthier and to address relevant questions about the effectiveness of mitigation strategies that have been developed for these products. Through this research, it was observed that, depending on the vegetable, the levels of this contaminant can be quite variable. Alternative snacks, such as sweet potato, carrot and beetroot may also contain high levels of acrylamide and need to be monitored even more closely than potatoes snacks, as less information is available on these food products. Furthermore, various pretreatments (e.g. bleaching, immersion in solutions containing chemical substances) and processing conditions (heating methods, time, temperature) can reduce the formation of acrylamide (54-99 %) in alternative vegetable snacks.

Toxicity, formation, contamination, determination and mitigation of acrylamide in thermally processed plant-based foods and herbal medicines: A review

Thermal processing is one of the important techniques for most of the plant-based food and herb medicines before consumption and application in order to meet the specific requirement. The plant and herbs are rich in amino acids and reducing sugars, and thermal processing may lead to Maillard reaction, resulting as a high risk of acrylamide pollution. Acrylamide, an organic pollutant that can be absorbed by the body through the respiratory tract, digestive tract, skin and mucous membranes, has potential carcinogenicity, neurological, genetic, reproductive and developmental toxicity. Therefore, it is significant to conduct pollution determination and risk assessment for quality assurance and security of medication. This review demonstrates state-of-the-art research of acrylamide focusing on the toxicity, formation, contamination, determination, and mitigation in taking food and herb medicine, to provide reference for scientific processing and ensure the security of consumers.

Allicin Promoted Reducing Effect of Garlic Powder through Acrylamide Formation Stage

Background: Acrylamide is formed during food heating and is neurotoxic to animals and potentially carcinogenic to humans. It is important to reduce acrylamide content during food processing. Researchers have suggested that garlic powder could reduce acrylamide content, but the key substance and acrylamide reduction pathway of garlic powder was unclear. Methods: The inhibitory effect of garlic powder on acrylamide in asparagine/glucose solution and a fried potato model system were firstly evaluated. Furthermore, the effect of allicin on the amount of produced acrylamide in the asparagine/glucose solution model system and fried potatoes was studied with kinetic analysis. Results: The freeze-dried garlic powder had a higher inhibition rate (41.0%) than oven-dried garlic powder (maximum inhibition rate was 37.3%), and allicin had a 71.3% attribution to the reduction of acrylamide content. Moreover, the inhibition rate of allicin had a nonlinear relationship with the addition level increase. The kinetic analysis indicated that garlic powder and allicin could reduce acrylamide content through the AA formation stage, but not the decomposition stage. Conclusions: Allicin was the key component of garlic powder in reducing acrylamide content during acrylamide formation stage. This research could provide a new method to reduce acrylamide content during food processing and expand the application area of garlic.